A Message from Our Tree

Sometimes, if you listen carefully, it seems as though nature sends us clues.  

I had sketched some plans for a treehouse to be built next to the kids' playhouse.  I had sketched a ladder going from the deck in front of the playhouse up to the treehouse next to the playhouse.  I would store firewood and the snowblower underneath this treehouse.  It really seemed like a good plan but, honestly, I keep wondering whether it is a good idea or not.  

I have so many other projects that need to get done around the house and the building season is short up here.  Adding a treehouse to that long list sometimes seemed a bit too much especially considering my health also limits how much I can get done.  Another reason I was questioning the wisdom of this project is because the grandkids have now moved from right down the road to about an hour away so their time here at Gee and Papa's house will probably be quite limited.  Because of these reasons, I was leaning toward forgetting about this project and getting back to work on my list of home renovations and repairs. 

Today, we awoke to more than a foot of wet, heavy snow outside.  That is far too much weight on our roof so we immediately headed outside to clean off the roof and move some snow from the pathways around the house.  

When we walked to the other side of our outdoor kitchen, we were greeted with two big branches down covering the entrance to where we keep the snowblower and partially on the roof over the outdoor kitchen.  I moved those branches and we got to work.

I was on the roof clearing off snow while Sheila ran the snowblower in the driveway.  While I was on the roof, I heard a very loud "CRACK!"  At first, I wondered whether the roof was giving way under my feet.  Fortunately, the roof under my feet remained stable so I looked over at the outdoor kitchen and the big tree over the kitchen where I had planned to build this treehouse...  another big branch broke off and fell to the ground.  

As I was taking a little break, sitting on the roof, catching my breath and assessing the damage to the tree towering over the playhouse and our outdoor kitchen, I heard another loud "CRACK" as another branch fell to the ground!  In all, by the time I got back down on the ground we lost seven branches to the heavy snow.  

When I finished clearing off the roof, I climbed down and headed over to the tree so I could start moving these newly fallen big branches out of the way.  I looked up and noticed that ALL of the branches that broke...  ALL OF THEM...  were branches that I likely would have removed to build the kids' treehouse...  "Hmmmm... is the tree trying to tell me something?"

The tree, itself, with the help of Mother Nature and this ridiculously heavy wet snow, actually cleared out the branches I needed to remove to build this treehouse!  I couldn't help but stand there in disbelief thinking that this must be some sort of sign that I should build this treehouse for the grandkids.  If the tree is sending me a message by saying, "Hey...  you...  over there...  yeah you...  -CRACK-  build a treehouse and put it right in this spot here that I just cleared out for you" then who am I to decide otherwise?

So, it seems as though the tree is telling me to build this treehouse.

On the positive side, my roof over the outdoor kitchen and the kids' playhouse held up fine to the falling branches and we now have a little more more firewood for the summer firepit...